


Princess? I Should Think Not

by SadWalrus



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anyways, Bad Boy Lee Jeno, Dont hate him tho, I know, I mentioned slow burn before but, I might include some side ships too, Im an asshole, M/M, Oh, Slow Burn, This Is STUPID, Um what else, a lot of angst at first, also some of the older members might pop in later I don't really know yet tbh, and theres a bit more then light mentions of people getting beat up, but he's scared, but seriously it's not graphic, but there'll be fluff at the end, but what else is new, he has problems too, hi its me again, hopefully, im so bad at tagging omg, its gonna end happily, its like rlly slow burn, its mostly in jaemins pov, its not really a gang tho, its the rich kid/bad boy au, jaemin just wants love, jeno will fight a bitch for jaemin, jenos kinda a little bitch at first, jenos real whipped, k I think thats everything, nothing too graphic, oh jaemins parents are dead, oh yeah, rich kid jaemin, seriously, so I just read through the tags, the rest of the dreamies are jenos friends/gang, theres also light mentions of people getting beat up, they act cool at school but in reality they're just excitable gay bois, they gonna have a wild ride y'all oops, they're all soft for jaemin, who's not soft for jaemin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 23:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15423966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadWalrus/pseuds/SadWalrus
Summary: The classic rich kid/bad boy trope but the rich kid just needs someone to keep him out of his own head and the bad boy isn't all that bad.





	1. First Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> k so this is my first multi-chaptered fic so I'm sorry if its bad and the flow isn't good

Jaemin was once again walking home from work down the same road he always took at the same time he always did. It was about 8:30 pm and he had just finished up his shift 15 minutes prior. He still had his school bag with him because right after school ended he had to head to his work. 

It’s the way every single one of his days happened.

He always woke up at 6:30 am due to the alarm he would set the night before. Then he would go quickly have a shower before getting dressed in his usual skinny jeans and oversized hoodie paired with a black facemask. After getting ready he’d go check his bag to make sure he had all his supplies and books ready before pulling on his old beat-up sneakers. By 7:15 am every morning he’d be already out the door and heading for school, which starts at 8:30.

The walk wasn’t that far, Jaemin just liked to be early. He’d always be the first student to arrive; the only other person in the building would be Ms. Park. Every day he’d make his way down the hall towards her classroom where he’d sit quietly and wait for the bell to ring and for students to start filing in, his hood pulled up and mask securely in place, completely hiding his face.

Sometimes he’d read. Other times he studied. Most of the time he drew.

He always made sure to hide his drawings as soon as someone walked in.

It wasn’t always like this.

Before, Jaemin used to go to a different school, a school where he was known for always smiling and making people happy. He had a group of friends, who called him their happy virus, and he was so carefree.

When Jaemin’s parents died, he lost his happiness. Smiles were too hard to fake, and his friends had tried to comfort him before they got tired of his emotionlessness and just moved on and started to hang out without him.

Honestly, Jaemin truly cannot say he blames them. Yes, he was going through a hard time and they should’ve been there for him, and they were, Jaemin just refused to open up to any of them. Mostly because he truly didn’t feel that close to any of them, but that was because, due to the fact he used to be always happy, they felt like they couldn’t talk to him seriously, and Jaemin had never had anything to complain about before so he didn’t approach them with problems of his own.

When Jaemin first transferred here, he got special permission from the principle to not have to introduce himself. A lot of his classmates found that really suspicious, that he just all of a sudden joined this new school without a whisper. No one knew anything of his past and he planned to keep it that way. The fact that he wore a mask and hid his face definitely did not help the rumours. He also had a special permission slip that allowed him to leave the class whenever he needed to. All of the teachers knew to not ask him questions in class and he basically had a free pass for everything. He was even exempt from oral presentations and group projects and was given a separate assignment or the guidelines were made easier for him so he could do things on his own.

Not that Jaemin really cared or used the free pass to do anything bad. He only left class when he felt he needed to. He would spend his lunches in the classroom with Ms. Park who would talk casually to him, but would never insist he responded. Only occasionally on a bad day, he would head up to the roof to clear his head.

Jaemin supposed it was a good thing that he had extra privileges. He could space off and doodle in class without getting in trouble. He also got to wear a facemask so no one would see his face.

If you asked Jaemin, he honestly couldn’t tell you why he hid his face and didn’t speak. He supposed it was a comfort thing. As long as no one knew what he looked or sounded like, they couldn’t know him.

Because that’s what Jaemin feared. He feared people knowing him, of getting close to him as his parents were and then disappearing out of his life for good. He barely got by after his parents died. He couldn't take it if it happened again.

So that’s how he found himself walking down the same old street as always. It wasn’t like Jaemin’s parents left him without any money and it forced him to work, and he was barely getting by. Not by any means at all. He had enough money left to him that he could probably live comfortably the rest of his life, as long as he didn’t go crazy and spend all his parents’ money.

He felt bad if he didn’t work. So yeah, he got a minimum wage job at a small café and worked there every day after school ended. 

He kept his old beat up sneakers because he loved them, and he’d had them forever. The reminded him of the times his mother would nag at him to get new shoes, and he’d respond that he doesn’t need new shoes cause they serve their purpose decently enough and his father would just smile in fondness at his two favourite people playfully bickering.

They reminded him of better times.

He honestly didn’t know what made him stop. He just decided that it would be nice for once to not arrive home at the exact same time as usual. So he stopped and he waited. He didn’t wait for anything in particular.

All of a sudden he heard some scuffling and a few cries. He whipped his head around trying to decipher which direction the noises were coming from.  
Determining that they were coming from the left he ran across the street. He looked up and down the street but saw nothing. He heard some more grunts and he checked down the alleyway where he thought the noises were coming from.

Sure enough, he saw two figures; one was clearly winning the fight and was thoroughly beating the other up.

Gathering his courage Jaemin made his presence known by running up to the two and shoving them away from each other. While he was in between the two, the kid who was getting beat up quickly grabbed his bag he had probably lost in the fight and quickly ran out of the alley without looking back.

Sighing Jaemin turned to leave to do the same, only to get grabbed by the collar and slammed into the brick wall behind him. His head made the first contact making his eyesight go black for a second. Once he regained his vision, he looked up from under his hood, still slightly dazed, and identified the boy as Lee Jeno.

That was bad news.

Lee Jeno was the schools bad boy. You didn’t mess with him unless you had very good medical insurance.

Jeno probably almost as many rumours about him as Jaemin himself did, and that was quite impressive on its own, and definitely your first warning sign.

Jaemin closed his eyes as he felt Jeno’s fist make contact with his stomach. He coughed as he felt the pain register.

Jeno suddenly pulled away from Jaemin, causing his body to slowly slide down the wall and thump onto the ground.

“You’re lucky I’m letting you off with just that. Don’t get in my way again, k?”

Jaemin only weakly nodded his head in response, still dazed from how his head hit the wall.

He heard Jeno’s footsteps walk away leaving Jaemin alone in the alley.


	2. Almost Nothing's The Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaemin gets home and remembers the times when his parents were around.
> 
> (It's basically a filler chapter of backstory)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellu tis I again

To be quite honest, Jaemin didn’t know how long he sat there. It wasn’t because of the pain from Jeno’s punch; even though it still hurt it was definitely bearable. Maybe it was because of the hit to his head, as he still felt rather dazed. Or maybe it was because of the shock, one second he’s walking away and the next, the schools bad boy is all up in his face.

Whatever the reason, Jaemin sat there until he snapped out of his daydreaming and began to walk home.

If he was being honest, the thing that bothered him the most of the entire situation was the fact that Jeno was beating up some guy.

Jaemin didn’t like to believe rumours; he preferred to find things out for himself, so he never really believed that Jeno was as bad as everyone had thought him to be.

But then again, maybe the fight wasn’t Jeno’s fault. Or maybe he had a reason to fight that guy.

Jaemin shook his head at himself; here he is making excuses for the guy that punched him.

Jaemin always was a strange child, he was definitely smart, his grades were proof of that, but more often then not he found himself stuck in his head, even before his parent's death. He just liked to daydream.

Jaemin saw nothing wrong with that, but when he was younger, the other kids in his class often found him weird and liked to make fun of him. Thankfully he managed to hide it better once he reached high school, so he made some friends and his life was good.

Eventually, he made it back to his house. Unhooking one of his arms from his school bag, he dug around for the key he knew was in there. Eventually finding it, he shoved it into the lock and turned the deadbolt.

This was always his least favourite part of the day.

When his parents were still around he’d come home to his mom, who often worked from home and she’d come greet him in the entryway. He’d let her smother him with kisses and he’d answer her questions about how his day was with a smile and then they’d go to the island in the kitchen where they’d eat some of the baked goods she had made that day and she’d talk about her day, and how her business was going (Jaemins mom ran a boutique with clothes and makeup products mostly designed by her, and Jaemin adored hearing all about it).

Then his father would come home about an hour after Jaemin had arrived and he’d scold them with far too much fondness for them to take him seriously about eating desserts before dinner. Then Jaemin would go upstairs to complete his homework, his father would go into his study to finish up some loose ends from the day and his mom would make dinner. They’d all eat together as a family and Jaemins father would quiz the both of them on their days before sharing a bit about his own.

Coming home used to be Jaemins favourite part of the day.

Now, all it brought was sadness.

Jaemin gently toed off his shoes before placing them neatly against the wall because that’s what his mother always nagged at him and his father to do. He dropped his bag heavily on the same chair he always did, grabbing his homework.

He made his way to the kitchen without any of his mother’s kisses and sat down at the bar without any baked goods. He stared at the clock almost unseeing, not quite believing his eyes when he saw 11:47 flashing in bright green letters.

Sighing he eventually got up and grabbed an apple from the fridge and a bottle of water. Gather all his homework in his arms he headed upstairs to do his homework.

A lot of things may have changed but where he did his homework did not.

Jaemin had a large room (that came with having a wealthy family) and the only part that wasn’t particularly personalized was his desk. It was simple and plain, efficient but dull, and he could easily fit his laptop, his textbooks and work booklets on it as well as his lamp and writing utensil holders.

The rest of Jaemins room was extremely different.

His parents allowed him to decorate it however he wanted and with that in mind, Jaemin hadn’t really help back.

Two out of four walls were painted in a pale baby blue, one was rainbow and the last wall was a deep purple. 

His purple wall was probably his favourite. It was absolutely covered in Polaroid’s and photos he had taken of his friends, his families vacations and just random things he had found pretty enough to take a picture of. Underneath every photo was a little sticky note with the date and place he had taken the picture.

His other walls held much less meaning to him, but he still loved them.

His rainbow wall he was quite fond of, simply for the fact that he did it himself and it was pretty. It was completely randomly rainbow. He had gotten a large variety of different colours and just splattered them on until it was all covered. It had taken so long to do and he remembered the way his mom and dad had laughed at him as he finally emerged from his room, covered in rainbows.

The blue ones were rather interesting. One was covered in kpop group posters. The other had a bunch of lines on the wall with names and dates, indicating how tall people were. He had gotten all his friends and parents to do it. He sighed at the memory of his mom and dad laughing at him as he pulled them into his room and how he had scolded them to stand still. After he had finished with their measurements they insisted that they measured him too. His line was still there, nestled in between his parent's lines.

Jaemin shook his head. Thinking of his parents wouldn’t get his homework done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just thought id let u guys know I don't really have an update schedule and I hope yall r ok with that. I'm just gonna be updating whenever I feel like it so I'm sorry if that bothers u. once again I hope u liked it!


	3. Of Being Late and Physics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaemin has some doubts, some kid is rude to him, and a surprising someone defends him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry, this chapter's later then I expected it to be!

Jaemin woke up late. 

He never woke up late, his alarm made sure of that and he had set it the night prior, but the power had gone out sometime during the night effectively shutting off his alarm. He usually woke up very early anyways but he had stayed up late last night to finish the homework his teachers had dumped on him.

Jaemin rushed around his room trying to pull his hoodie over his head while attempting to locate his mask. Finally getting his hoodie on right, he quickly spied his mask laying on his nightstand. Dashing forwards to grab it, he quickly spun around and raced out of his room. Hooking his arm through the loop of his backpack's strap, he raced out the door after stuffing his feet into his shoes.

What a lovely way to spend a morning.

Sprinting his way to school he put on his mask and he managed to arrive in five minutes leaving him about three minutes to get to class before the bell rang.

Now that he had made it he could calm down and walk at a more even pace to the first period.

After turning a few corners he made it to Ms. Parks class.

Opening the door was a whole other problem.

Sure, most days he just walked right in, in no panic or discomfort, but today he was late, and that meant that there were probably other students already waiting inside. Students who would look up as the door opened, checking to see if it’s their friend. 

People would look at him.

People would see him.

Taking in a deep breath he took a moment to collect himself and steel his nerves then opened the door.

The room quieted down a bit as all the students stared at him.

He could already hear the new rumours forming.

He knew that the young high school kids couldn’t resist the pull of gossip and the desire to create stories as to why the mysterious silent kid was late.

He glanced up just enough so that he could see through his bangs and saw Ms. Park seemingly smiling in relief. Jaemin thought perhaps he had worried her because Jaemin was always present and always early even if he had to leave not five minutes after arriving.

Jaemin hurried to his seat and quickly dismissed the thought, Ms. Park wouldn’t worry about him, she barely knew him. Sure, she talked to him at lunchtime and he often hung around her whenever they did something as a class, but Jaemin never actually talked to her. And besides, why would she worry about a boy like Jaemin?

Sure he had good grades but that was it.

He didn’t participate in class, he spaced out, he didn’t join clubs or extracurricular activities, he didn’t have friends, he didn’t go on field trips and he skipped assemblies and sports games and chose to sit on the roof and draw.

If Jaemin was being honest, he felt like a rather unnecessary and boring annoyance.

It wasn’t as if Jaemin hated himself. No, he didn’t think he was that awful.

He just sometimes felt rather inadequate.

Lost in his head, Jaemin didn’t notice when someone tried to talk to him.

“-id. Kid. Are you listening? Are you really that fucking stupid that you can’t even fucking respond?”

Jaemin ducked his head further and refused to acknowledge him.

The same guy was about to yell at him again when the loud blaring of the bell rang across the class.

Saved by the bell indeed.

“Kim Seongho! Get back to your seat! Do not swear in my classroom, it is not acceptable! And leave the other students alone!”

Jaemin sighed and he looked up in time to see Ms. Park looking at him in worry.

She shouldn’t worry about him. She doesn’t know him.

A terrifying thought crossed his mind.

But what if she does know him? 

He shook his head. She couldn’t. It was only his panicked mind that imagined that maybe she did.

He was brought out of his thinking once again by the voice of another, yet this time it was his teacher.

Ms. Park was calling on him.

His blood ran cold.

“Jaemin-ah, can you come to the board and solve this for us?”

He looked up to see multiple different attempts at solving the same equation written next to the one she was pointing to. They were so obviously far off the actual solution it took everything in him not to snort.

Oh so slowly he stood up. He tilted his head down as far as he could while making his way up to the front. The class was dead silent.

He figured they were in shock, for multiple reasons.

One, no teacher had ever called him out before. Two, that he was actually listening to the teacher. Three, his name is Jaemin.

It’s an odd thing, to be shocked by someone’s name, but it could be just the shock that they realized they never knew his name before. Then again it could be that his name was rather soft sounding, with gentle syllables rather than harsh syllables.

Finally reaching Ms. Park after what felt like decades (in reality it was 37 seconds, Jaemin counted), he reached up his hand and delicately grabbed the whiteboard marker, being sure not to make any physical contact.

He turned to face the whiteboard and observed the question.

He uncapped the marker and worked.

It took him about a minute to solve in total (it was actually 62 seconds, once again Jaemin counted).

The problem was quite easy, and he recapped the marker as he turned to see Ms. Park beaming at him.

He silently held out the marker and made his way back to his seat after she accepted it.

“Did all of you just see what Jaemin did?” Ms. Park questioned as she placed the marker back in the bin on her desk. “He just solved a Grade 12 physics problem with absolutely no issues in a very short amount of time, while in Grade 11. He used total mental math and even used a shortcut that I wasn’t even aware was possible. A feat, none of my other best students could do. So please, do not call him stupid because he is currently passing this class with a 98%, something that no one else is doing. So unless you’re planning on stepping up your grades and beating Jaemin’s I advise you keep your mouth closed.”

Well shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name of the kid who yelled at Jaemin is completely made up, I literally used a Korean name generator. Also, sorry for no Jaemin and Jeno interaction in this chapter, I wanna take it slow and really develop some things before complicating Jaemin's life and the story further, but we will get there! See you next chapter, I hope I'm not boring you guys!


	4. Potential Seatmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaemin gets curious to see who is seatmate would've been if he hadn't gotten special permission to sit alone. He decides to find out before getting interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I updated again lol. I felt like I hadn't updated in so long (it's been 4 days omg calm down) e and even though I don't have an update schedule I felt bad so here's a slightly longer chapter!

Jaemin didn’t really know what to do. Sure, most of the time the other kids ignored him and preferred to gossip behind his back but on the rare occasions, someone did come after him no one did anything.

He honestly didn’t know why Ms. Park would do that.

So Jaemin did what he usually did when things happen that he doesn’t understand.

He pushed it to the back of his mind, so that he wouldn’t think of it, reflect on it or try to comprehend it.

For a second he paused, his mother's voice floating somewhere in his mind, telling him not to bottle things up and push them away.

Jaemin shook his head slightly.

His mother was gone. She couldn’t help him as much as he wished she could.

Sighing he laid his head down on his desk deciding to just nap the rest of the period.

The next thing he knew, the dismissal bell was ringing loudly, piercing through his sleep.

Jaemin thanked the lords that it was Thursday and that his 2nd period was also with Ms. Park. He has the same seat in both classes so he didn't have to move and could just stay sitting.

Jaemins seat was rather strategically placed. It was on the left side of the classroom, in the middle row and by the huge windows. His desk was pushed against the shelf that came up to the same height as his desk so he could place his extra things on the shelf if necessary. Not that Jaemin lacked space. He has no seatmate.

Another special privilege.

This class had an even number of students, so technically Jaemin was required to have a seatmate. He briefly wondered who the other person sitting alone was.

He decided to look around when the class started to see if he could find his once potential seatmate.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long for the class to start as the bell signaling the beginning of the next period rang.

Jaemin decided that he would be rather subtle about it.

He’d doodle in his notebook, half listening to the teacher as he drew, and then about fifteen minutes into class he’d do a quick sweep of the classroom.

Once identifying where the person sitting alone was, he’d let another ten minutes go by and then he’d glance in their direction to discover who was the other person fortunate (or unfortunate depending on their views) enough to sit alone.

Jaemin felt the anticipation in him build as the minutes ticked away. He simply couldn’t wait to solve this mystery.

If he were one to laugh, Jaemin would’ve laughed at himself. Here he is, getting excited over finding out who else sat alone in this class. 

Man his life was boring. He definitely needed some new entertainment. The next thing he knows, he’ll probably be spying on his neighbors!

Deciding that enough time had passed to make a sweep across the classroom he slightly raised his head and quickly ran his gaze clockwise, from directly in front of himself to directly behind him.

Ah. One row to his right and about four rows back.

Jaemin realized the anticipation was really getting to him, so he took a few deep breaths while putting this person out of his mind for a few minutes and resumed his doodling.

Absentmindedly Jaemin drew on the cover of his notebook. Technically this was the work notebook he was supposed to hand in at the end of the year to get bonus points, and they weren’t supposed to draw on them, but Jaemin knew he wouldn’t get in trouble.

Suddenly his hand froze. The room seemed to drop about ten degrees all at once and he began to choke.

Coughing, he stood up from his seat and dashed out the door, leaving all his stuff behind. He’d be back for it soon.

He just needed to get some fresh air.

The last thing he heard before closing the door to the classroom was the slam of his notebook hitting the ground.

Standing outside the classroom made him breathe ten times easier.

Getting the notebook out of his sight was probably even more helpful.

Closing his eyes Jaemin took in a huge gulp of air before remembering what had set him off.

It wasn’t his notebook rather what he had drawn on the book.

Right on the cover he had drawn a butterfly, covering almost the entire surface.

Sure butterflies were pretty and a sign of spring but Jaemin knew they meant so much more.

They were a symbol of resurrection.

Now, don’t get him wrong, Jaemin knows his parents won’t be getting resurrected. It just. It freaks him out.

He’s been subconsciously drawing butterflies ever since his parent’s death.

His dad used to like butterflies. 

Jaemin remembered his dad talking about them all the time. In the evenings after Jaemin had done his homework after a bad day when he was just exhausted, his father would call him downstairs and he would lay next to his father on their pull-out couch where his father would whisper to him facts about butterflies as if they were secrets and his mom would join them eventually with fuzzy blankets and Jaemin would lay in between them as his father talked about butterflies for hours and hours and on occasion his mum would mimic his father, her face pressed into the top of his head as he snorted at her attempt to copy his deep voice.

How eventually they’d all end up laughing and giggling together on the old couch that was much too small for all three of them and much too uncomfortable to wake up without any muscle pains but they’d all stay there anyways far too content in each other's presences to move. 

By the time they fell asleep, Jaemin had always forgotten about his bad day.

Jaemin pulled himself out of his memory, angry with himself for letting this happen at school.

After fully coming back to his senses, he felt the hot gush of tears that had escaped his eyes while he was unaware.

Jaemin was so angry with himself. He swore he wouldn’t let anything like this happen to him so unexpectedly.

He usually knew when a memory or panic attack was being triggered and could escape people’s presence well before they set in and took effect. Now he was out here in the middle of the hall by the entrance to a classroom openly crying.

Jaemin went through his mental checklist of things he needed to do in a matter of importance.

First was to get out of the public. His immediate thought was to head to the bathroom that was only around the corner. He decided that that would indeed be the best place right now, and as he walked there he began to work on step two.

Stop crying. Honestly, at this point, it wasn’t that hard. The memory had already released him from its clutches and was starting to fade to the back of his mind again, in a tiny corner where he kept all his memories of his parents for nights when he felt so alone and he thought his chest would constrict. 

For nights where he could bury himself under his parent's blankets in his parent's bed, he while choked with tears running down his face as he remembered the times where smiling was his resting face and laughing was his trademark.

Jaemin reached the restroom right as his tears stopped. He walked into the (thankfully empty) washroom and immediately went to one of the sinks. He gripped the countertop in his hands as he took calming breaths and waited for the last lingering feelings of panic to leave.

Finally, he felt completely fine again so he gently wet his fingers and rubbed the cool water over his eyes gently.

Feeling completely in control of himself he left the bathroom and checked the time on his phone seeing that this entire ordeal had only taken up ten minutes.

There was still twenty minutes left in this period. He started walking back towards class.

If Jaemin was being honest, he really wanted to go back to class. He couldn’t tell you why, it wasn’t because he had left his stuff there (he could always just grab it after the bell rang, because lunch is next period), and it wasn’t because he was struggling with that class (Jaemin didn’t struggle with any subject no matter the field), he just felt compelled to go back. Like it was absolutely necessary to return.

He stopped in front of the door.

Jaemin wasn’t dumb. No, he was far from dumb and he knew if he went back every stare would be on him. People whispering, gossiping, theorizing, analyzing.

But Jaemin had to do what he had to do. Who knows, maybe he’s finally recovering (Jaemin highly doubts that he’s just trying to distract himself). 

He could also glance around and see who the other person sitting alone is.

Jaemin cursed his mind. Couldn’t he just let it go?

He sighed and resolved to glance at the place he had seen the person sitting alone as he made his way back to his desk.

It was only a way to distract himself from all the stares he reasoned with himself. He’s definitely not curious.

Not at all.

Not even a little bit.

Okay, so maybe he was a little curious.

And maybe he was having this little argument with himself inside his head to prevent the inevitable entering of his class and stares of his classmates.

So, for the second time that day, he steeled his nerves and opened the door.

He kept his head low and the door swung open and quietly closed it behind him. He could practically feel the student’s heads turning to stare.

Raising his head enough for him to see more in front of him he started to make his way back to his seat.

About halfway there, the kids began to lose interest in actually staring at him and began to whisper to each other.

Jaemin took this as his chance to sneak a glance at the person sitting alone.

He sucked in a breath, almost tripping over his feet.

Lee Jeno.

And he was staring directly at Jaemin whilst smirking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's so boring right now, I'm really making this a slow burn haha. I just really wanna make their stories and relationship develop rather than just throw them into situations I'll save that for later hehe. Anyways since I felt bad I actually mentioned Jeno physically in this chapter (yay!)


	5. Small Miracles?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ms. Park is nice and Jaemin has a lot on his mind
> 
> (please read the note at the end!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helloooooooo
> 
> I feel like I'm updating late again ahh! idk whats wrong with me ;-; maybe I just enjoy writing this much it seems like far too long since I've updated
> 
> (please read the note at the end!)

Jaemin’s head shot down to the floor and his eyes watered as he tried to stifle a cough.

He doubled his pace towards his seat and practically collapsed in his seat.

Jaemin quickly wiped the sweat off his forehead before bending down to pick up his fallen notebook. He quickly sat back up and tossed his book onto his desk, immediately burying his face in his arms. 

Smooth Jaemin, real smooth. 

Yet another reason as to why Jaemin couldn’t just rejoin society like a normal human.

He’s become awkward as hell with the social skills of a dead fish.

He sighed and buried his head further in his arms, trying to get the image of Lee Jeno smirking at him out of his head.

Jaemin must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing he knew the bell was ringing and lunch hour was starting.

He slowly raised his head tiredly glancing around the class as the students filed out, chattering animatedly to their friends. He felt a pang in his chest, a deep (desperate?) longing of sorts. Jaemin, like all other people, wanted friends, he wanted connections and he wanted intimacy. He just couldn’t figure out how to rejoin regular society.

He had too many mental scars and issues he simply couldn’t unload that upon an unwitting someone.

As Jaemin was lost in thought everyone had filed out of the classroom except one. He heard the door close and he could sense the person approaching him from behind towards his left.

“Are you okay? I… I’m sorry if I passed some limits and crossed some lines this morning. That wasn’t exactly fair of me huh? I just… I got so angry hearing them call you stupid when that is far from the truth.” 

Jaemin almost smiled at Ms. Parks’ words.

He shifted slightly in his seat. In a short burst of confidence, he suddenly spun around and staring resolutely at Ms. Parks’ shoes he shyly gave her a nod.

He shyly glanced up with his head still ducked and watched as a huge smile crossed her face from under his lashes.

“You know Jaemin, you’re my favourite student.” Ms. Park said conversationally, “I know it’s often considered pretty lame to be friends with a teacher, but I do like to think that I’m your friend. If you ever need anyone or anything I’m always here. I’ve grown very fond of our lunches together. I do hope you don’t find my presence or chitchat irritating.”

Jaemin quickly shook his head, not wanting to give Ms. Park the wrong impression and another wide smile stretched across her face.

“I’m glad. And in case you were wondering I don’t mind the one-sided conversations so don’t stress yourself about that, okay? Anyways I was extremely impressed with the problem you solved earlier, it was really incredible…”

Jaemin didn’t hear what his teacher said after that, as he tuned her out.

Don’t get him wrong, it wasn’t to be rude, he just had a lot to think about.

Ms. Park said he was her favourite. That she enjoyed his presence. That she didn’t mind when he didn’t talk or reply. She had even apologized to him. But most importantly, she called him her friend.

Jaemin hasn’t had a friend in a long while. And he’s certainly never had any friends who accepted all those weird things about him.

It almost gave Jaemin hope that people could truly like him, but once again he quickly squashed it before he could be let down again. Better set yourself up for disappointment then stumble into it blind.

At least that’s what Jaemin tells himself, over and over until he no longer doubts it for a single second.

He hears Ms. Park stand up and start to prepare for the next lesson.

He reaches over his desk to grab his forgotten notebook and continues to fill in the blank spaces with doodles and cartoons. Pretty soon Ms. Park speaks up again.

“Are you going to stay here for next period Jaemin?”

At the sound of her voice he had jerked his head upward slightly. Tapping his pencil against his cheek he debated with himself.

On one hand, he didn’t actually need to miss class, but then again he hadn’t had the greatest day today between being late and the breakdown (he hasn’t even mentioned being beaten up yesterday by Jeno and then getting stared at by the same boy).

Deciding to do something for himself he decided to stay with Ms. Park in her classroom.

He ducked his head again to indicate that he was going to stay here.

Jaemin heard her laugh as she went back to work and he felt his cheeks flare up with sudden embarrassment.

He dropped his head onto his desk with his head in his arms once again, and remained unmoving, even as he heard the bell ring and Ms. Park go to open the door. He didn’t so much as flinch when the loud chatter of students became more apparent as the teenagers filed into the room.

He could feel the moment their gazes landed on him.

Most were probably wondering what he was doing in here considering he wasn’t in this class. Probably creating rumors about how he beat some kid up and he was in trouble, or that his gang was selling drugs and he had gotten caught which ended in detention.

He could hear all the seats around him being filled but he decided against looking up and continued to just lie on his desk. Jaemin decided that a nap was in order so began to clear his mind and try to relax.

It was actually going quite well and he found himself on the very edge of drifting off, his mind all dark gray and cloudy random thoughts racing through his brain (if a tomato is a fruit why is Bob the tomato on the show VeggieTales?), when he sensed a presence standing near him.

Sitting up in a panic he shifted around slightly so he was facing the empty seat next to him only to have his vision obstructed by long legs clad in black ripped skinny jeans.

Jaemin gulped in panic. He forgot he wasn’t normally in this class and that someone else would be sitting in this spot.

He could feel his breathing getting heavier and was starting to regret his decision to stay in this class. Right as tiny black spots began to dot his vision, Ms. Park spoke up and rescued his ass for the nth time that day.

“Jeno, why don’t you sit near the back for today, hm?”

Jeno? What was happening? Everything that happened today just seemed to lead back to Jeno and honestly, Jaemin was getting tired of it. What was so special about him anyway? Yeah, he was the cliché bad boy of the school, but Jaemin was just peacefully living his life, day in day out, all the same. 

Nothing had to change.

Jaemin didn’t seriously expect Jeno to listen to Ms. Park and was half expecting Jeno to drag him out of his seat but he was shocked when the jean-clad legs spun around and retreated out of his line of sight.

Huh. Perhaps small miracles did happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellur tis I
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter!
> 
> Also, I just wanted to let you all know that I read all of your comments and they mean so much to me like oh? my?? god??? You're literally the best! I really wanna reply to all of them but it kinda feels like I'm just boosting my own stats and idk I feel bad lol.
> 
> Another thing is that I'm gonna go on vacation next Wednesday, so I won't really be able to update during that time, I'll try to write another chapter before then, but I don't know if I'll be able to cause I'm currently visiting relatives. I'll try to write when I'm in the car, but my brother will most likely be in the back seat as well and he's nosey and I'm kinda embarrassed by my writing so,,,
> 
> Anyways thank you all so so so much for all the comments and kudos and even just giving this story a chance it truly means so so much to me! Even if you don't like it or think I suck at writing (which I do lmao) thank you for giving me a chance! I love and appreciate you all so much ugh
> 
> (sorry I'm really emotional rn it's just one of those days lol)


	6. The Watering Can

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> School ends and Jaemin heads to his second job and remembers how he got the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I'm back!! I've been trying to write this chapter since 10 am and now it's almost five pm lol. I kept getting interrupted. But anyways it's here now!! I hope you like it, it's really boring so sorry about that, but I have the next chapter all planned so it should be up really soon!! I was originally planning to include more in this chapter but I decided to split it up so I could get this up.

The rest of the day passed by in a whirlwind of blurs. Jaemin spent the entirety of school sitting at his desk in Ms. Parks class.

Luckily, no one bothered him and he remained quietly tuning out the lessons and sketching for the rest of the day, occasionally throwing in a nap or two.

Before Jaemin knew it, the end of the day had come, and the other students were all packing up. He decided that he wasn’t up to pushing his way through the crowded halls so he chose to wait in the class until the majority of the students went home.

By the time the noise from the hall had quieted down, Jaemin had already completed his drawing. 

The sketch he had been working on was more detailed than any of the other drawings he had recently been working on.

The picture was of a wild pond. There were lily pads adorned with water lilies as well as tall grass peaking out from the surface of the water, and tiny little toads sat perched up on top of a rotting log. An old, shattered bridge stretched from one end to the other. A storm was raging and wreaking havoc upon the delicate scene, the sun hiding behind the clouds, like a coward. 

The finished piece lay in from of Jaemin, stuck in a spiral bound sketchbook. The scene was still beautiful despite the storm, and Jaemin was at a loss of poetic words to describe the feeling.

Despite the sketch having been completed with detail, Jaemin had not coloured it. 

He was always far too afraid that the colours would ruin everything.

Jaemin shook himself out of his head, and gently closed the sketchbook. Now was not the time.

He stood up and gently shoved said sketchbook into his backpack. Swinging the bag over his should he quietly pushed his chair in and headed towards the door. Slipping out of the class, he took a left and began to make his way to his locker.

Jaemin expertly spun his combination, easily opening the lock. After grabbing the extra textbook he’d need to catch up from the classes he missed, he closed the metal door before securing the lock in place.

Heading back the way he came, he slowly made his way towards the exit. Jaemin was just about to plug in his headphones and get lost in some music when some shuffling and a sharp cry caught his attention.

He quickly hurried out the door where he heard the scuffling come from. Jaemin glanced around frantically, looking for the scene but neither saw nor heard anything.

He scanned the area suspiciously one last time before shrugging it off as him just hearing things and finally put on his headphones, quickly choosing to listen to Perfect by Ed Sheeran.

He picked up his pace so that he could make it to work on time. One of the reasons Thursdays were his favourite was his job. Yes, he worked every day of the week, but on Thursdays rather than working at the coffee shop, he got to work at a tiny flower shop.

Jaemin adored flowers. His father used to always buy them for his mother every Monday evening when he came home.

Two songs later and Jaemin was standing at the front entrance to the tiny shop.

He opened the door and the small bell dinged indicating someone’s arrival.

Taeyong, his coworker and also the owner of the shop, looked up at the sound of the bell.

“Oh, hey Jaeminnie! You’re a bit early today, so you can just chill in the back for a little until your shift starts. Unless you wanna start early, then be my guest!”

Jaemin lifted his hand up, in acknowledgment and headed towards the door behind the counter labeled Staff Room. He gently opened the door and he felt Taeyongs eyes drift back to the small flowers he was watering on the counter in front of him.

Jaemin adored Taeyong. He was probably the closest person to Jaemin after his parent’s death. Taeyong had found Jaemin sitting on a park bench, staring blankly at nothing. He had approached Jaemin and asked him if he was okay. When Jaemin hadn’t responded, Taeyong had simply sat next to him. The next thing he knew, Taeyong was talking to him. Just random small talk. Jaemin liked Taeyongs voice. It was deep and a little raspy, but oh so comforting.

Jaemin could’ve listened to him ramble for hours.

Then Taeyong had asked him if he wanted a job. 

“Boys like you don’t appear often.” Was what he told Jaemin.

Jaemin hadn’t quite known what Taeyong had meant by that.

So when Taeyong stood up, Jaemin followed suit and they both walked for about fifteen minutes. They stopped in front of a small shop. Jaemin remembered snorting at the name.

‘The Watering Can’

Really?

Taeyong had playfully scowled at him and opened the door.

They were hit by a gust of warm air. Taeyong stepped inside and flicked on a light switched illuminating the store. Jaemin gasped as he stepped into the doorway and looked around.

Little twinkle lights, not the white kind, but more of a softer cream colour lit up the shop. The shelves were made of some kind of woven wood-like vines in a soft brown colour with matching baskets hanging from the ceiling. There was a light layer of dirt on the pale gray cement floor but instead of making the shop appear gross and unkempt it matched the way the flowers were practically spilling out of their pots. Every plant in the shop was clearly well taken care of and healthy. Jaemin had turned and even saw little succulents and cacti lining the windowsills. Surprisingly the curtains had been drawn up even though there had been no one attending to the shop, but Jaemin could see that they were a mix of white cloth and lace. 

With the fading light from the sunset, the tiny store was absolutely stunning.

Jaemin turned to find Taeyong standing behind the counter with a small smile on his face.

“So,” he had said, “you wanna work here?”

Jaemin had never signed anything that quickly in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I really hope I didn't bore you to death with this chapter lmao. Anyways the next chapter will be up soon and hopefully will be more interesting.
> 
> Thank you all for waiting so long!! Chapters should be coming rather frequently again, but I am starting school in about a week so they might take a little longer to come out. I won't abandon this fic though, I'm really enjoying writing it haha.
> 
> Anyways once again thank you all for being so patient :) and the next chapter will be out very shortly ;)


	7. Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaemin helps an elderly man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi omg I'm so so so sorry this took so long! I have an explanation (not an excuse though!) so if you want to know why I haven't written anything it'll be in the noted at the bottom

Jaemin finished tying his apron around his waist and wandered his way back out into the store part of the building. When Taeyong saw him come out the door he beamed at the younger with a huge smile on his face.

“Don’t worry Jaemin! I’ll pay you extra for starting work early!”

Jaemin gave Taeyong a little thumbs up before making his way over toward the shelf where he knew Taeyong kept all the supplies for taking care of all the flowers on display.

Grabbing the pink watering can Jaemin moved to start watering all the flowers he was required to at the beginning of his shift. He could sense Taeyong grinning at him from where the older was standing behind the counter. 

Jaemin rolled his eyes but he didn’t actually care. He found it amusing how childlike Taeyong could be at times, the smallest things making him happy and proud. He reminded Jaemin of his mom back when she was alive.

Jaemin quickly reverted his mind back to his current task before he could accidentally drown some of the flowers. That certainly wouldn’t make Taeyong happy.

Jaemin was working on his third last row when he heard Taeyong clear his throat.

“Umm, sooo Jaemin. I’m gonna take off. It’s a little early for me to end my shift I hope you don’t mind? I kinda promised a friend that I’d meet up with him in like five minutes? Anyways yeah so that’s it. I’m just gonna shut up and go now. Ahhh remember to lock up, okay? Thanks Jaemin! You’re the best!”

Taeyong ran out the door, his face completely red. Jaemin just stood there, his watering can in one hand and the other just awkwardly dangling by his side. He slowly blinked before snorting. 

Taeyong was certainly something.

Taeyong was also certainly very flustered thinking about this ‘friend’ of his. But Jaemin believed he was really only just a friend. 

Or at least Jaemin would pretend to believe him until he needed something from Taeyong.

Jaemin hurried to go back to work and finish up watering the plants so he could spend the rest of his shift safely seated behind the counter.

About half an hour passed and Jaemin had finished his watering around fifteen minutes ago and currently had his elbow leaning against the counter and rested his head in his palm as he tried valiantly to be a good worker and not fall asleep.

He had just about dozed off when he felt a cool breeze along with the little tinkling noise the bell made whenever anyone entered or exited the shop.

His head shot up and he saw an elderly man, probably in his mid-to-late-seventies, walk through the door and stop on the little welcome mat.

Jaemin watched as the man looked around the shop with the same look of awe that most costumers who haven’t been to the store before had.

Quickly shaking his head the man found the counter and started moving towards it. Jaemin quickly brushed off the dirt he had on his elbows and straightened his apron before the man reached him. Jaemin quickly bowed.

“Good evening,” the man said brightly as he reached the counter “I wanted to get some flowers for my wife, but you see, I don’t really know much about flowers myself and well, I want them to mean something rather then just be pretty. Would you happen to be able to help me?”

Jaemin felt a strong wave of fondness fall over him. It was things and people like this that made Jaemin love this job.

Jaemin quickly flashed the man a thumbs up and reached under the counter for a book before stepping out from behind the counter. He clutched the book as he began to make his way around the shop.

Jaemin held the book under his arm as he fished his phone out of his back pocket. He hurried to take a picture of the current flower he was standing before. 

He repeated the process six more times before walking back to the man. The man gave Jaemin a nervous smile.

He opened his photos and clicked on the first picture he had taken. He gave his phone to the man and set the book on the counter. He flipped through the pages until coming to a stop.

On the page was a picture of the same flower that Jaemin had taken a picture of and a short text on the flower.

Daffodil: symbolizing rebirth, new beginnings and eternal life. When given a single daffodil it represents misfortune while a bunch of daffodils indicates joy and happiness.

The man looked at the picture of the replete daffodil before reading the small paragraph. He smiled and nodded to Jaemin who in return flipped through the book again.

Gillyflower. White lilac. Jasmine.

The man nodded along the smile growing on his face with every new flower Jaemin showed him.

Forget-Me-Not, White Dittany, Azalea.

Jaemin closed the book after the man had approved of the last flower. He reached across the counter to grab the small notepad and pen that was sitting next to the cash register. Jaemin quickly scribbled out a note to the man.

Would you like these flowers now or would you like them ready at a later date?

“Oh ahh. Now please, if that wouldn’t be too much trouble for you.

No problem at all Sir. I’ll get started right away.

Jaemin easily slipped away from the counter and went to the back of the shop where the cut flowers were waiting since, of course, you can’t display the cut flowers and you can’t keep the costumers waiting.

He easily gathered up the required flowers in his arms and moved back out to the front counter where the wrapping was stored. After gently pacing the flowers on the counter, he carefully selected a deep blue before holding it up for the man to see. After the man nodded his approval, Jaemin quickly cut a piece of the wrapping and set it down. Quickly placing the flowers in a simple yet elegant arrangement, he folded the paper around the stems.

Jaemin grabbed some silver ribbon with a tiny bit of glitter and once again held it up for the man to see. After he had his approval, he made a cute little bow and handed the bouquet to the man to inspect. After making sure the man was satisfied with how the bouquet turned out Jaemin quickly rung him up.

After paying, the man leaned over the counter and grabbed Jaemins hands in his own.

“Thank you so much. I just know my wife will love this. Even after fifty-eight years she’s still the smartest, most talented, bright, beautiful woman in the world. At least to me. I’m so thankful for you helping me today. It really means a lot to this poor old man.”

The man lightly squeezed Jaemins hands and gave him one last smile before picking up his bouquet and leaving.

Shaking lightly Jaemin sat down on the stool. Leaning his elbows on the counter Jaemin placed his head in his hands and cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Once again I'm so so so so so sorry for not writing anything for this and just disappearing! I just started school again and that usually drains so much of my creativity it's hard for me to write anything, but on top of that my uncle got sick really sick and then my brother got really sick and then I got really sick so everything was just a mess. I promise I'll try to be better and actually write something from now on! Once again I'm so sorry this took so long!

**Author's Note:**

> mostly unedited, sorry


End file.
